EOF - The Open Source Development Lab

You can tell a technology finally has made it into the general
consciousness when it's the cover story in a major business magazine.
With all the recent media attention on Linux, it would be easy to assume
that the awareness battle has been won and now, finally, things are going
to get easier. But those of us on the front lines of business computing
know the real heavy lifting has only started. The penguin has been
a symbol of promise and fundamental change in software development for
some time, but now is the time for it to really prove itself.

The fact that the broader business community is starting to take Linux
seriously is a good thing: more consideration
will be given to Linux, and more development energy within organizations
will be devoted
to Linux applications. But with all of this new
attention—sometimes by people and organizations having little experience with
the Open Source community and its workings—comes a certain degree
of uncertainty. And if there's anything corporate IT departments
don't like, it's uncertainty—especially when it comes to
business-critical applications. As Linux makes its move
from edge-of-the-network to the data center, Linux applications will be
under heavier stress and flaws will be highly visible.

Despite its pervasiveness as a Web server platform and its maturity, thanks
to a vibrant and committed development community, Linux still has to
prove itself as a true enterprise platform. IT management needs to
know that security, scalability and availability all are on par with
proprietary systems. Application developers, both independents and those
who work in corporate IT departments, need access to test equipment that
replicates a corporate data center to validate their code and make the
proper modifications. Enter the Open Source Development Laboratory (OSDL).

Created as a nonprofit corporation by a consortium of technology
companies in August 2000, OSDL is dedicated to accelerating the
adoption of Linux in corporate computing. The Lab is a place where
kernel and middleware code can be stress-tested and hardened to support
enterprise Linux applications.
In addition to facilitating application projects, we also are actively
involved in Linux kernel and middleware development. Recently, OSDL has
contributed to the development of a new device module for Linux 2.5, as
well as accomplished significant work on stability enhancements.

OSDL was created to give
open-source developers access to data center-like
equipment to test their applications and receive
technical as well as moral support.
Although OSDL's charter has expanded over the past year,
the core of its original mission remains: provide
open-source developers with resources and guidance
to build data center and telco class enhancements
into Linux and its open-source software stack.

OSDL offers three unique programs focused on
developers and designed to accelerate the growth and adoption of Linux
in the enterprise:

A fully configured data center environment for Linux development and
testing, available for qualified projects around the world.

Creation of enterprise-class development tools and performance test
suites for corporations, ISVs and other Linux developers.

Hosting and coordination of global initiatives that define requirements
and harden Linux to meet reliability, availability and performance
requirements for telecommunication and data center environments.

Since its creation, OSDL has supported more than 200 Linux projects
ranging from Apache to virtual memory improvements. The Lab's test
suite includes x86 and Itanium systems
up to 32-way setups. Lab resources are available to new or existing
Linux projects.

Our development tools include an automated scalable test platform (STP)
for Linux that provides a repeatable set of tests to verify how well
patches and enhancements perform in enterprise computing environments.
We also provide a patch life-cycle manager (PLM) to verify that patches
compile on the Linux kernel prior to STP testing.
We want to
help corporate users better understand what open-source software can do
for their businesses, as well as how they can become active participants
in the community. As you can see, we have our work cut out for us. But, so do you.
I encourage you to visit the Lab at www.osdl.org and see what we're up to.
Perhaps you can help us.

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